The Tale Of Healing
by Carol Molliniere
Summary: A boy named Jack Matthew Korona is chased by demons. They say they want his soul back in Hell. Why? What does his soul have to do with this? And what's a Life Pass? Rated T for safety.
1. Chapter 1

**The Tale Of Healing**

**By: Carol Molliniere**

**A/N: OK, so this started as a random preview for one of my future fanfics. It turned out to be the actual fanfic. Sue me if you don't believe Judas Iscariot should ever have been redeemed.**

**The title is based on my other Judas fic, "The Tale Of Freedom", since the star here is none other than our dear Y'hudah-kun! (Again, sue me for mixing a Hebrew name with a Japanese honorific.) I'm so glad to see that so many people like my previous one. So, I'm trying my hand at yet another Judas fic. Hope it helps, but I won't give away what happens to Y'hudah _yet_.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Bible. But even if I did, I wouldn't change a thing about it. (I just realized that I'm very contented with the way it is. Especially in NEXTmanga's Manga Bible format. BD)**

* * *

Satan Lucifer***** looked down at the red-haired man standing before him.

"Y'hudah," the devil breathed, his brow creasing. "It seems that many a demon has complained to me how actively you still reminiscence about that cursed Son of God, even if you are damned for life." Y'hudah Iscariot held his head up high, even in the face of Lucifer. "I want to. No torture you ever give me will erase the fact that He was once my friend."

"Once," Lucifer said. "That annoys me to no end. Maybe something a little more painful will help."

Y'hudah hung his head. He didn't want this.

He had only wanted his Rabbi to be the political Messiah everyone was expecting. After all, Yeshuah of Nazareth had a lot of potential in Him. Y'hudah didn't know He was going to die.

Lucifer grinned. "Well, how should we begin?"

But before anyone could say anything else, there was a flash of light above them. Y'hudah covered his eyes, because it was so bright. When the light began to lessen (but never vanish completely), there was a single Man standing before them.

The Messiah, Yeshuah of Nazareth.

There were many people in white behind Him; most likely the righteous men and women that Yeshuah had taken from the deepest pits of Hell, since Heaven was closed.

But now it had opened. And the devil had lost.

"Hello there, Lucy," Yeshuah said, giving that same radiant smile that Yeshuah gave Y'hudah when He asked him to follow Him. How Y'hudah wished that moment would last.

Lucifer frowned. "I keep telling you never to call me that," he said with disgust. "What brings you here, brat******? All of your men and women are with you."

Yeshuah looked over at His fallen disciple.

"I'm telling you to let my friend go."

Y'hudah felt tears prick at his eyes. _"Friend?"_ he thought. _"How could He still call me His friend?"_

"What?" Lucifer said. "You certainly don't think that I'd let you have your betrayer so easily, now did you?" Yeshuah shook His head, but nevertheless persisted. "I tell you, Satan; let him go."

"Never!" Lucifer said, standing from his seat. "He's my prize to take from you, Yeshuah!" Y'hudah covered his ears; he never knew rivals could ever talk so loud at each other.

Or…what was the proper word for it? _Shout_.

He never heard Yeshuah raise His voice in anger often; except for that time in the Temple, turning the courtyard upside-down…

And now…

A flash of light and dark, metal clanging against metal, fire against fire; Y'hudah supposed the two were battling (though Yeshuah wouldn't have gone into a fight on His own*******) for his independence – or rather, who would have custody over him and who wouldn't.

If he had a say in this, he would go with Yeshuah over Lucifer any day.

_Clang!_

Y'hudah looked up to see Yeshuah, his Savior, point His flaming sword at Lucifer's chest, the latter's sword probably having been knocked away somewhere.

"I didn't want to settle this with violence, Lucy," Yeshuah said, His eyes having an odd mixture of anger and…sadness, but no cocky, triumphant glint was anywhere to be seen. "…But you made me. So now, I just wanted to ask you: Will you let my friend go?"

Lucifer scowled, and with a snap of his fingers, Y'hudah's chains were unlocked, and fell off his wrists and ankles.

"Just remember, brat, this isn't over yet," Lucifer said, and with ultimate frustration, he yelled, "AND STOP CALLING ME LUCY!"********

Yeshuah just smirked in His own child-like ways, and then offered His betrayer His hand.

"Want to come with me?" He asked.

Y'hudah was too grateful to say no.

* * *

Soon enough, Y'hudah and all the other men and women that Yeshuah had saved from Hell found themselves on a giant green-painted steam engine. The "Soul Express", Yeshuah called it. Responsible for bringing souls to their afterlife. And today was its first trip. You know, as soon as Yeshuah came back from His forty day-stay with His remaining disciples. They couldn't do it without Him, for He was the train conductor.

So they had to wait forty days. Seemed more like one day; days on the Earth probably passed like they were nothing in the afterlife. Y'hudah pretty much guessed that the time he was in Hell must have accounted alone to 2000 years. And it was stunning that Yeshuah came down to Hell the day after He died. Maybe in the afterlife, time could be bent and manipulated. Oh well.

When Yeshuah did come back, the train was up and running. No one on the train dared make eye contact with him, for they all knew who he was. He returned the favor. Oh well; that was life for him.

Life. Seemed like an odd word, now that he was dead.

Soon, they arrived at Heaven, after passing by Hell and Purgatory. All of the righteous men and women stepped out of the train, eager to finally rest in the arms of their Master.

Y'hudah was about to step out of the train as well, but a firm hand on his shoulder prevented him from going any further. He turned to see Yeshuah looking him dead in the eyes, as if trying to tell him something.

"What?" Y'hudah asked. "Why won't you let me go any further?" Yeshuah replied, "Because you must not go any further." Y'hudah frowned. "I don't understand." Yeshuah pulled a lever, and the doors closed. He then summoned for His twelfth disciple to follow Him into the control room, and Y'hudah followed.

As the train went on and blew steam, Yeshuah explained everything He needed to explain.

"You see, Y'hudah, it's not that I don't want you to go to Heaven, I really do. The problem is that you're a soul fresh from Hell, and therefore you don't have a Life Pass."

Y'hudah blinked. "A Life Pass? What's that?"

"A Life Pass is something that almost everyone has whenever they're born; but they are stripped of it when they go to Hell, mostly because the demons burn it. It's erased, but whenever people are born again –"

" 'Born again'?" Y'hudah interrupted. "What does that even mean—?"

"Just, please let me continue, friend," Yeshuah said with all the gentleness He could muster, and Y'hudah fell silent. Whether it was the fact that the Messiah was asking him to listen, or it that he was struck by the enormity of the emotions in his bosom – no one had ever called him a friend that lovingly – Y'hudah wasn't sure.

Yeshuah continued, "But when people are born again in a new body, they regain their Life Pass once they place their trust in me." "So, to get it completely straight, a Life Pass is completely putting one's faith in You."

"Yes," Yeshuah finished. Y'hudah crossed his arms. "Well, so that means I don't completely trust You?" Yeshuah nodded. "But…if I didn't completely trust You, would I be here right now?"

"Father, Uncle********* and I know human hearts like nothing else can," He said. "Y'hudah has not learned to trust me." Y'hudah's brow furrowed, and his expression became a little more frustrated. "I trust You, Yeshuah."

Yeshuah's expression remained monotone, if not a bit sad. "The first step for you to trust me, Y'hudah, is to renounce who you used to be and forgive yourself for betraying me, ultimately because I forgive you."

The train pulled to a stop, and Y'hudah observed the cold environment around them. It was an endless white, except for a certain tan-colored door, which looked like it led to everywhere and nowhere.

"_Where is this place?"_ Y'hudah asked yourself. As if He read his mind (and He certainly did), Yeshuah answered, "This is the place that all souls go to be born again." Yeshuah stepped out of the train and motioned for Y'hudah to follow. Reluctantly, he did, and the two of them walked up to the tan wooden door.

"So…I'm supposed to step through this and be born again?"

"Yes."

"But…I don't think I can face the others."

"Oh, no," Yeshuah said as He opened the door. "You're not going to face them when you're born again, for they'll be with my Father."

"You're going to be reincarnated, born into the year 1996."

"What?" Y'hudah asked, but it was too late. The door had closed.

Darkness.

* * *

**A/N: So…this one actually starts with Judas dead. Just how you like it. Yes, he's gonna be reincarnated. I've been waiting to write this one for a long, long time~!**

**I'm sorry if Jesus doesn't sound like the loving Messiah that I portrayed in "The Tale Of Freedom" and "My Name Is Love"! It's just that I needed Him like this for the prologue. I don't know how to do this though…**

*** - Since you guys say that it's easier for you to call the devil by Lucifer and Satan is "just a title", I find it easier to call him "Satan Lucifer", or rather, "Accuser Lucifer". 8D**

**** - It's just…easy to make Lucifer call Jesus "brat". (Not that I'd call Him that, anyway.)**

***** - But of course, Jesus wouldn't ever want to fight. Ever. But He had to.**

****** - The thing Lucifer would say to all you fanfiction authors who call him by Lucy. (Don't listen to him.)**

******* - Not a bad word, I swear! It's just that authors on this site make Jesus call the Holy Spirit by "Uncle".**

**Update (6/15/12): So, I've been reading my rough drafts of this story lately, and I found out that the text had a few mistakes on the dates. So I changed it. Hope it's as accurate as my calendar is!  
**

**Review, please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Man, updating is fun! The second chapter for "The Tale Of Freedom is underway! Oh, I should probably just get it on with. I'm pretty sure only 0.01% of you were expecting me to update, anyway.)**

**Disclaimer: Like I said, the Bible doesn't belong to me. Cue the obvious.**

* * *

_February 10, 1996. 12:00 midnight._

Archangel Gabriel flew through the empty and dark streets, carrying a tiny bundle in his arms. He sighed. Might as well get this over with.

"Now where did He say that the address was again…?" Gabriel asked himself. The bundle squirmed in his arms. He looked down at the tiny red-headed infant. "Don't worry, I'm sure it's not much further," he encouraged, and even though it fidgeted a bit more, it did not make a sound.

Then finally, Gabriel reached the place the Lord had told him to leave the baby. A simple house, with only a single apple tree next to it, without a fence. The woman who lived there was widowed; she was still in mourning, since it was only weeks after her husband died.

Gabriel gently lowered himself down to the front yard. The baby finally opened its blood-red eyes as it realized it was also being put down to the doorstep. Gabriel kind of stared at its eyes for a minute; they differed very much from its soul's previous form. "Good night; may the Lord bless you, child," he muttered, even though he knew fully well whose soul the baby's was. He rang the doorbell, and hearing footsteps, he vanished into the night.

The woman, whose name was Louise Korona, hurried to open the door, even though she was tired – who on Earth would be up at this unholy hour? – and tear streaks were still etched on her face. When she opened the door, however, she found no one standing there.

"Hello?" Louise asked, even though she knew there wasn't going to be any answer. She was about to dismiss it as a prank and close the door, when she heard silent sniffles on the doorstep. She looked down, and there she found the red-haired baby. Having pity for it, she looked around for anyone whom it might belong to, and finding no one, she took the child, and from that moment on placed him under her care.

* * *

_15 Years Later; February 10, 2012._

Footsteps echoed in the cold alley, with blood dripping out of his tightly tied handkerchief – which was being used as a tourniquet – and down his left pants leg. He winced at the pain it was giving him, but he needed to walk all the way home. He silently cursed himself for having his home furthest away from his school.

When he finally opened the door, he nearly fell on his knees due to the blood loss, panting. His adoptive mother noticed him standing at the door, and helped him onto a chair.

"Jack Matthew Korona!" Louise almost yelled as she rushed to get gauze for the wound on his left leg. "Where have you been? And where did you get that wound?"

"I'm sorry, Mom…" he said, panting heavily, watching his adoptive mother fumble through the first aid kit. "A dog attacked me on the way home. It bit me."

"Oh good Lord, you might get rabies," she cursed as she found what she was looking for. She walked over to him, untied the bloody handkerchief, and applied the bandage. Jack frowned. "Great. Now I have to worry about dying before I even know how to drive."

"Oh, that reminds me," she said. "Happy birthday, Jack."

"Hardly happy," he remarked. "And besides, it's not even my real birthday; just the day you found me on your doorstep."

"But you were as fragile as a newborn; it might as well have been your birthday," Louise objected. "Now _I_ have to worry about getting those bloodstains out of your clothes." Jack nodded. "Yeah, Mom. I'm just gonna change now."

Jack stood up from the chair, and went upstairs to his room. He thought about what would have been an absolutely normal birthday, if it weren't for that rabid dog. _"Now that I think about it,"_ he thought, _"that dog was looking a bit scarier than most dogs. And even though dogs get angry at me most of the time_*****_, they would normally just growl at me, and not leap at me and try to rip my flesh out."_

And he added to his thoughts, _"And…it was kind of weird to see that the dog had blazing red eyes."_

After dinner that night, Jack crept into his bed, silent as he normally was. He really was worn out, especially after hearing Louise drone out caution after caution about how to keep safe when going out. He sighed; he loved her, he _really_ did, but he was 15 already, so he could take care of himself.

He tucked himself under the blankets, glad that the next day would be a weekend******.

* * *

Opening his eyes, Jack found himself stuck in a city that looked something like Israel. And by Israel, I mean old, like first-century. He looked down at himself, only to see that he was wearing robes, like they always did in Bible stories.

Walking around, he noticed that the city was empty, without anyone. The houses were abandoned, as well as the markets and the gates. But what was really odd was that he found the Temple…broken, with only its western wall left standing. Jack walked up to it, and couldn't help getting the feeling that someone else was there.

"_Jack,"_ a voice sounded. He blinked.

"Huh? Who's there?" he asked, turning around. But no one was there.

"_Jack,"_ the voice repeated. He turned again, but no one was there. He frowned, thinking this was some kind of joke.

"_Jack Matthew Korona,"_ a more baritone Voice called out with authority. He turned and blurted out suddenly, "Here I am, Lord." He winced at his own words; what if it really wasn't God? He didn't want to be laughed at anymore than he does at school*****.

"_Jack,"_ the Voice finally continued, _"maybe I should explain to you what had happened this afternoon. You see, there is something about your soul that attracts beings like demons –"_

"W-what?" Jack yelled in surprise. "Demons?"

"_Just please let me continue, friend,"_ the Voice said, and Jack shut up. _"Your soul attracts demons, because they want your soul to go back to Hell. That dog you faced this afternoon was an example of that. When it backed away from you after biting you, it was because I sent your guardian angel to fight the demon."_

"Uh, this is taking really long to process, Lord," Jack said, a bit dazed. "So, what You're basically saying is that demons from Hell are after me, and that dog that attacked me this afternoon was a demon?"

"_Pretty much, yes,"_ the Voice said, as if quirking an eyebrow.

"So…why does my soul attract demons from Hell?" Jack asked. The Voice paused for a while, and then said, _"I am sorry, my child. I am saving that answer for tomorrow."_

"Saving it for tomorrow–?" Jack began to ask. But then the Voice was gone, and so was the dream.

He sprang up from bed, panting. Was it really a dream?

* * *

**A/N: And there you have it. The first hints at being a reincarnation. So much for a normal life, Jack!**

**** - I checked the calendar. February 10, 2012 is a Friday.  
**

*** - Something about his soul...again.  
**

**So…what did you think. Drop by and leave a review! Read and review, for short.**

**Aw, forget it, just review.**


	3. Chapter 3

**(A/N: Man, sometimes I think I should just keel over with these stories of mine, especially about the more controversial ones, like this. But there must at least be some people who like this…or not. Oh well. I'll just post it and see how it goes.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Bible. Obviously. But Jack Matthew, Louise and the rest that doesn't have some references to the Bible, I own. Somewhat.**

* * *

"Good morning, dear," Louise greeted her adopted son the next morning, unaware of what had transpired in Jack's head the previous night. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine, Mom," Jack said a bit groggily; he should be glad Louise couldn't see some wrinkles beneath his eyes because of his lack of sleep*****.

"OK," she said. "So, what do you want to do today? I'm not going to work today; is there anything you wanna do?" Jack shook his head. "Not much; besides draw." "OK, sweetheart," she said. "Just eat your breakfast first."

"OK, Mom."

After breakfast he retreated to his bedroom. Louise sighed; there was nothing wrong with the boy, it was just that he was always spending time alone. She almost always wondered why.

Jack got up to his room and grabbed a pencil and his sketchbook, which was filled with some of his best drawings. It had some tears from that time when he had brought it to school at 10 years old and all the bullies stole it (Jack would like me to spare you the details of how he got it back), but other than that, it was in good condition.

He turned the sketchbook to a blank page and put pencil to paper. He tried his best to draw what that deserted city he was in looked like. It turned out to be almost an exact replica of the place, only he couldn't draw the wind blowing. He added the shadows for dramatic effect.

When he finished the drawing, he looked it over. Somewhat, he felt this city had a meaning. Then Jack sighed.

"_I am saving that answer for tomorrow."_

"_Saving it for tomorrow–?"_

Hopefully he would get more answers today, if the Voice he had heard in his dream would push through.

A knock at his window startled him. He looked over at it, and opened the hatch. Standing under there, was his best friend Timothy Luke Kuroshe, waving up at him. Jack smirked; that kid was the only thing tying him to the social circle of people. He didn't exactly know why Timothy had chosen to be friends with him of all people, and how exactly he could keep being his friend even after all those times he had been cold and aloof to him, but he certainly wasn't gonna ask.

The redhead walked out of his bedroom, ran down the stairs at a pace somewhat faster than breakneck speed, and rushed to the living room, where the door was. Louise was sitting in an armchair reading a book. She looked up to see her son running to the door. "Honey, where are you going?" she asked. "Nowhere, Mom; just letting Tim inside."

"Oh, Timothy Luke from preschool? I'm glad that you're still keeping in touch with him after all these years; I'd really like to see him again."

"Mom, you saw him last week."

"Oh, right."

Jack opened the door. Timothy waved at him again, beaming like he always did. "Hello, Jack," the greenhead said. "Yeah, hey, Tim," Jack returned. "Come in." Timothy stepped in through the door and nodded to Louise. "Ah, hello, Korona-san******." She nodded. "Hello, Timothy. It's been a while since I last saw you." Before he could point out that it was just last week she saw him, she continued, "It seems just like yesterday that you came here for the first time and Jack accidentally –"

"Mom!"

"Sorry, dear!"

After that ordeal, the two boys hurried up to Jack's room to see his latest drawings in the sketchbook.

"Wow, you're so good at drawing," Timothy praised. "I wish I could have been as good as you." Jack shrugged. "Well, _I_ wish I am as good as you at everything else. Last week, in P.E., I really sucked. I was the only boy who got a failing grade." Then he sighed. "And it repeated for the other ones. Except for Arts."

"Yeah, I was the one that failed that time," Timothy said. Then he turned to the last page with drawings on it.

"Wow, nice city, dude. Don't think I'll ever be seeing one of these again, after I found out my family isn't allowed to go to Israel." Jack looked over at it. "No, I saw that in a dream…I don't know what it was, but I'm sure I copied it out of memory just fine."

"Well then, it's OK."

When Timothy left later that day, Jack sat down in his room again.

"Man…I really do wonder if I'll have that dream again."

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update; school and the dreaded Writer's Block (again) have almost eaten out my creativity. And what's more, I apologize for making it so short. Damn. Hopefully, I'll be able to go on and the next chapter will be much more satisfyingly longer.**

*** - I have wrinkles beneath my eyes due to lack of sleep sometimes as well, so I thought I would use that for reference. And I'm only 12. Oh well, I guess none of my classmates noticed. (I'm now in Grade 7 – or Year 1 of High School, so that the rest of the Filipinos reading this [if they will] can tell. Woot!)**

**** - In case you were wondering, this story can happen in any place you want. My OC Timothy is Japanese; that's why he uses the Japanese honorific "-san".**

**And yes, Timothy, my OC from "Writer's Block", is here too. In my original setting of Jack's character, Timothy became his best friend. They're inseparable.  
**

**And don't ask why I keep editing my stories.  
**

**Review anyway, please?**

**Just review!  
**


	4. Chapter 4

**(A/N: Well, I started writing this chapter right after I finished the third one on my computer, so hopefully it's going to be nice and long – or at least as long as the first one [I just learned that the first one was the longest of them all!]. But if it sucks, don't blame me. Blame school for being so hard on me. So here is yet another chapter of Jack's misadventures!)**

**Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own the Bible. The words belong to their respective authors, and the events and people belong to God.**

* * *

That night, Jack had a strange dream.

He dreamed he was in that city again, but this time, he was in his regular clothes. Night had fallen over the city, and this time the houses were full and had sounds of whispering in them. Jack gulped. He hoped they weren't about him…

A gust of wind blew across his face, messing up his auburn hair so that most of his bangs covered half of his face. He tried to blow them off, to no avail. Jack just sighed and walked on his way.

He was already far from the city – and the Temple, which was oddly in good shape – and he felt compelled to go back, but something kept him from doing so. Mostly because he was drawn to this cliff, where a lone tree sat.

Along with a man.

Jack flinched, as if to run away, but his feet were drawn closer instead of further. Upon coming at least a few meters before him, he saw that this man standing under the tree had auburn hair and gray eyes. He was in his late thirties (in estimation), and was wearing the robes of the first century. Jack looked around. When the hell was he?

That question was answered when he saw the noose the man put around his neck.

Oh gosh.

"Hey!" Jack yelled out. The man looked over to him. In an instant, they both froze.

"_Why…why do we look the same?"_ Jack thought as he looked upon this older version of himself.

It seemed that Y'hudah Iscariot himself was thinking the same thing.

"Child, what are you doing here?" Y'hudah asked with a tone of annoyance. He sighed in frustration; he really wanted to get this over with and kill himself already. "Don't you have a family to get to?"

"Don't you?"

"I…" Y'hudah sighed again. He had never actually thought about that; not that he really cared, when the biggest burden of all weighed down on him.

Jack straightened and moved further towards him. Y'hudah flinched. He had to get this child away from him; why the hell did they look the same?

"Child, go back to your family. I don't want you here." Y'hudah said with a firm tone. Jack did not flinch, like his previous incarnation had. Then the thirty-nine year old noticed how out of place the fifteen-year old looked. "Are you a Gentile?" he asked silently. Jack looked down at himself. "If I were a Gentile, would we look the same?"

"Are you a demon, come from Hell to torture me?" Y'hudah said, his voice shaking in the slightest as he sat down on the edge of the cliff. "Don't bother; I am tortured well enough by the Teacher already."

"You mean Messiah Yeshuah?"

Y'hudah looked up at Jack. "How do you know…?"

"If I didn't know Him, that would be insane," Jack said, curious as to why Y'hudah spoke English – or maybe it was that he was the one speaking Hebrew*****. "And you are one of His disciples."

"_Was_," Y'hudah corrected. "Yeshuah is going to die. And I will most probably die at the hands of the other disciples the moment I show myself in their presence." Then he inhaled sharply. "And I have betrayed Him. I have betrayed an innocent Man."

"But you probably don't need to die for it…" Jack trailed off. Y'hudah sighed. "I can't go back there and beg for forgiveness. It's highly unheard of."******

"But it can be done," Jack said softly, sitting down beside this man who looked just like him, and yet who he was trying to stop from committing suicide. It was somewhat odd.

Was there a hidden purpose behind this?

Y'hudah's gray eyes met Jack's crimson ones. "Yeshuah will not forgive me."

"He will," Jack assured him.

"But…even if He did, what about the others? They are not like Yeshuah. They will kill me without blinking."

Jack blinked. "You will have been forgiven by Yeshuah. That is all you really need to know." Y'hudah looked Jack over. "Do you say that Yeshuah is God?"

Jack nodded. "Yes, I do."

Y'hudah shot up. "I do not plan on entertaining a conversation with you, child! You are young; you know nothing!"

"I might as well know more than what your foolish mind knows, Y'hudah Iscariot," Jack snapped back. Y'hudah frowned. "How did you—?"

Jack shrugged. Y'hudah sighed. "This is getting me nowhere."

The younger of the two shook his head. "If this was ancient Israel, I would really have been hoping to meet Yeshuah, not you."

Y'hudah just hung his head. "Man. This is going to be a long night."

Jack nodded. "You mean day." He pointed to the horizon, where the sun was already starting to rise. Y'hudah looked at the sun with sad grey eyes. "Yeshuah always liked the daytime. In fact, even though He liked the night just fine, He loved the daytime as well." He sighed wistfully. "If only He would see this day as it really is."

Jack nodded. "Yeah. He's gonna die."

The sun rose on Jerusalem, and suddenly, it blinded Jack.

"What—"

But everything was gone, and so was the man standing under the tree.

Instead, Jack had fallen out of his own bed at 2:07 AM.

He got up and blinked.

"What kind of a dream was that?"

* * *

_Monday; 13 February 2012_

Jack was walking to school nonchalantly, like he always did. It was kind of a school routine. He looked around for that dog that had attacked him last week, but fortunately, it was nowhere in sight. Maybe his dream was right; maybe that dog was really a demon and had been sent back to Hell.

Wait a minute…

Jack stopped to think for a moment.

"I didn't get much of a response from Him, now did I?" He said to himself. "I didn't dream of anything from Him, not even on Sunday. All I got was some dream about Judas Iscariot, and then…something that I can't quite remember."

Jack shrugged and went on his way.

"Maybe He meant another day…either that or my mind was fooling me all this time."

From Heaven, Yeshuah looked on through one of His Father's mirrors, which reflected some of the events on Earth that God would most likely need to see.******* And what He saw was not something that He wanted to see.

"Oh, Jack," Yeshuah said as the reflection vanished before Him. "You did not understand my Father's message at all."

"Well, you can't blame him, Yeshuah," His Father said, coming into the room, and the mirrors lit up for Him. "Jack is just as impulsive and cynical as Y'hudah is. It will be hard for him to believe."

Yeshuah looked up at His Father. "I know that, Father. But we both know that he will believe eventually."

The Almighty Father nodded. "Yes. In due time, my Son."

* * *

"Yo, Jack," Timothy said as he joined his red-headed friend in walking home. "How was your social life today?"

Jack looked at Timothy, raising an eyebrow. "What do you think? Even the girls pick on me. You know, not like the guys do, but like they stare at me." The older boy shook his head. "Jack, at least try to socialize outside of our friendship." Jack shook his head as well. "Tim, you sound like a girl giving advice to her friend."

Timothy just shrugged. "Dude, I mean it. You should at least try to talk to those girls. They might want to meet someone as awesome as you." "I'm only awesome as drawing. Nothing else that will earn me some money for your so-called future wife." "Well, train yourself. It's not like those skills are gonna just pop up out of nowhere."

"They did for you."

"Oh. Sorry."

Jack and Timothy continued walking on silently. When they were about a few hundred meters away from Timothy's house, Jack paused. Timothy stopped as well.

"Why, Jack?" Timothy asked. "What is it?"

Jack looked down, studying the ground and his shoes, as if they were important. Then after a good 5 minutes, he looked up at his friend again.

"You know, Tim," Jack said. "I had a very odd dream the night before Sunday." Timothy blinked. "What kind of dream did you have?" The former sighed and turned to face the latter. "It was just something…like that thing I drew in the sketchbook. Only it was really creepy at night and…the Temple was reconstructed and…"

Jack took a deep breath. Then, reassuring himself that it would be alright, he opened his eyes to his friend.

"You know, I talked to Judas Iscariot."

After Timothy went home, Jack felt so alone again. He closed his eyes and relaxed for a moment. Taking a deep breath, he walked on, opening his eyes.

The sun was already beginning to set. He looked at it. It looked so much like the rising sun he saw in his dream. Except he was in his hometown, not by a cliff, where a certain disillusioned man sat under a tree.

He felt crazy for admitting it, even to himself, but he wanted to come back to that spot, if he ever could.

He dragged his feet towards what he called home.

* * *

**A/N: Man, I hope this is enough for a long chapter. It's only 1,000+ words, but I hope this is enough for my promise. If you talk about the actual story. -_-; Man, I hate having to write anything too long.**

**In case you were confused: in the dream, Y'hudah just slipped the noose around his neck. He didn't tie it to the tree. How else would he have been able to comfortably sit under the tree?**

*** - Being able to understand Hebrew/Aramaic may be a side effect of being Y'hudah's reincarnation. And it also would have been crucial to understanding each other in the dream.**

**** - Once again, I have wickedmetalviking1990 to thank for this. Read the chapter of "Joshua the King of Heaven" from said author where Y'hudah returns the blood money to the chief priests.**

***** - lol, Soul Eater reference. I just couldn't help it.**

**And yes, I am a Roman Catholic Christian. I'm just expressing who I love in an entirely different way. Not how my peers would.**

**I'm sorry about the way the dialogue between Jack and Timothy flows; I'm not sure how guys communicate.  
**

**Bonus cookies to those who could understand God's message the way in the way that Jack couldn't.**

**Review. Pretty please?**


	5. Chapter 5

**(A/N: So…the fifth chapter is finally up. Sorry that I don't have Internet at home; sorry that school is giving me Writer's Block (for you Americans, June is when us Filipinos go to school); and most of all, sorry for not getting straight to the point.**

**Ok, enough rambling for one paragraph. Jack's story continues!)**

**Disclaimer: In one way or another, the Bible © God.**

* * *

"Jack, honey? Are you OK?" Louise asked when she saw her son drag himself through the door. Jack half-nodded. "Yeah, Mom, I'm fine; just a little tired." Louise was not convinced. "Jack, are you sick?" she interjected, putting a hand to his forehead. He was able to fully shake his head this time before running upstairs.

Louise frowned. "Oh, Jack…"

He got up to his room, falling on his bed. Groaning, he looked up at the sky. It was already becoming dark…

Jack rolled over on his bed, grabbing the first thing that was in his reach. It turned out to be his sketchpad. Turning it over in his hands, he sat up and took his pencil out from his bag.

"Quick; I have to draw him before I forget…"

The right hand catered to its master's every whim. Light curves and dark lines, blank spaces and shadows worked together to create a drawing. Soon the page was full of organized graphite markings. But it wasn't done yet; he needed that look in his eyes…

Done.

Jack looked his new drawing over, with even more attention than he did with his drawing of abandoned Jerusalem. He looked it over, and then looked in a mirror. Yes, there was no denying that they looked the same. But the man in the drawing was different from him in a way that could not be explained.

Y'hudah looked like he was about to cry.

He was about to cry, standing under the tree which branches were eager to welcome a disheartened man.

And yet Y'hudah looked somewhat…

Happy.

A new day had dawned on Jerusalem, as if giving him a chance to start over, to ask forgiveness from the crucified Messiah.

This was the first time that Jack had been so enthralled – and yet so frightened – by one of his own drawings.

* * *

_February 14, 2012. 3:00 AM._

A shriek resonated from the entire house.

Jack sprang up from the covers, in shock. There were only two people in his house…or was there?

He jumped out of bed and ran to his mother's room. The door was locked.

"Mom!" He yelled. Going down to get a hammer, he muttered curses under his breath. Then when he got back upstairs, he smashed the hammer on the door with all his might. After only 5 hits, the door caved in, and Jack was able to get in.

There was no one in the room besides his mother, trembling and crying.

"Mom!" he said again, dropping the hammer on the floor and rushing over to her. In a flash, he was embracing her. "What happened?"

Louise couldn't say anything, for she was so choked up with tears. Jack didn't say anything either, just embracing her. Then she looked at him.

"I…I think some sort of ghost…or something…attacked me…and asked for your soul."

Jack blinked.

"What?"

She nodded. "It was saying that your soul should be brought back to where it came from." Then she looked down at the floor. "I don't understand it at all."

"Neither do I, Mom." Then he hugged her tighter. "Don't worry, Mom, it's all over."

Even after that, neither of them had any more sleep that night.

* * *

When morning came, Jack was less than enthusiastic about welcoming the daytime. But why wouldn't he, when demons had attacked his adopted mother?

He punched the nearby wall of the building next to him, making his knuckles bleed.

"_They can attack me all they want…"_ Jack thought to himself, _"but there's no need to attack anyone I love!"_

He walked on to school, his spirits down.

Timothy was waiting for Jack at the school entrance.

"Hey man," he said. Jack looked up at Timothy. Something seemed out of place. Something had changed about Timothy's appearance somewhat.

"Um…dude, what're you looking at me for? Let's just go to school already." Jack snapped back from his observation. "Oh, um, yeah…" he trailed off, reluctantly following Timothy into the school building. Then, looking his friend over one more time, he saw what was wrong.

Three two-inch claw marks marred his friend's left cheek.

The redhead cringed; it was unusual to see anything on Timothy's face, especially that kind of wound.

"Hey, Tim," Jack began, "where did you get that mark?"

Timothy looked over at him, and then covered it with his left hand as if trying to keep it from Jack, even though he probably knew that his friend had seen the wounds he had on his face. "Oh, this," Timothy said. "Something I got last night. Some cat went all crazy on me when I tried to put it out of my window."

Jack blinked and raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Really? If memory serves, Timothy, you love animals very much and you'd skip your three meals to help out a dog, cat, and a bird. And the animals seem to like you too somewhat – at least, more than they like me. You wouldn't chase a cat from your window ledge, and even if you did, it wouldn't go all out and scratch you that bad."

Timothy sighed in defeat. "Alright. Some cat _did_ go bonkers on me last night. Just not your average cat."

_(Flashback: 5:00, February 13, 2012)_

"Well, Jack sure seemed troubled when he left." Timothy said to himself, watching his friend leave. He sighed. "Well, I guess I have to do my homework now." He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

"Jack's going through more trouble than I am, and he knows it."

Opening his eyes again, he walked on. But when he reached the doorstep, he saw a cat sitting on the doormat. It was too large to be a normal cat, but too small to be something like a lion or a tiger. Its fur was as dark as the night, and its claws were unsheathed.

"Uh…" Timothy trailed off. He had never seen this kind of cat before, much less how to deal with such a creature. He cleared his throat and reached for the doorknob. But before he could reach it, the cat looked up at him with large purple eyes. Timothy twitched.

The cat hissed at him. _"…You…have the smell…of his…soul!"_ Timothy's eyes widened. "W-what?" he asked in surprise. "Whose soul?" The cat stood and arched its back to him, its claws growing to 4 inches. It growled this time in a voice too deep for a real cat.

"_You know very well who! The man who escaped from Hell!"_

Timothy took 2 steps back. "I swear…I don't know who you're talking about!" The cat's gaze was cold upon him. _"Judas…Iscariot…"_

His heart skipped a beat, remembering what his friend had told him.

"_You know, I talked to Judas Iscariot."_

The cat unleashed its fury on him.

_(End Flashback)_

Jack looked at his friend in disbelief. "So…that…really happened?" Timothy nodded. "I think that weird cat thing was talking about you."

The former's eyes widened.

A burst of memories came through his mind.

"_If I hand Yeshuah of Nazareth over to you, how much will you be willing to pay me for that?"_

"_We will give you thirty pieces of silver."_

"_I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood!"_

"_What is that to us? That is your responsibility."_

A tightness around his neck, a long drop…

_Thump!_

Jack fainted.

* * *

**A/N: So…leave a review and tell me what you thought about it!**

**Jack finally knows he's the reincarnation of Judas Iscariot!**

**And one of the dialogue was from Manga Messiah (again).**

**Review anyway!**


	6. Chapter 6

**(A/N: Picking up where we left off! Louise and Timothy have been attacked by demons; whereas Jack finally finds out that he is the reincarnation of Judas Iscariot! What does our protagonist do now?**

**Aw, just read on. I'm no good at being a narrator. Next time, I'll just hire one.)**

**Disclaimer: Bible no belong to me. I'm dead serious.**

* * *

Jack blearily opened his eyes. He seemed to be lying on a bed in the nurse's office. There, standing in front of him, were four people. He recognized three of them: Louise, Timothy, and the school nurse. But the other person he saw…he thought they looked the same as each other.

Wait a minute…

"YOU!" Jack said, jumping up from the bed and pinning Y'hudah Iscariot to the wall. "Why didn't you tell me I was you?"

"Well, it's your fault you didn't know you were me! Yahweh Himself was giving you the hint!" Y'hudah yelled at him. "You could have just listened a bit more or something!"

"Listened a bit more? How could I have understood?" Jack yelled a bit louder than Y'hudah; and his voice was a octave higher. "Great, now I'm supposed to accept the fact that I'm you? You should have just stayed down in Hell, where you belong!"

"And what about you?" Y'hudah said. "You wouldn't be born, now would you? You're only in existence because of me!"

"SO?" Jack shouted, pushing his forearm onto Y'hudah's windpipe, leaving him to gasp for air. "Am I just going to be some part of your existence? Am I just…Argh! You make me sick!"

"_I_ make you sick?" Y'hudah managed to choke out. "I have no time for your games, child! You have to make a Life Pass before those demons get you again!"

"I—"

A stinging pierced Jack's neck before he could continue. Letting go of Y'hudah, his hand gingerly touched the place where he had no doubt been injected with a sedative.

He only gasped a breath of air before he collapsed to the ground again.

* * *

"Urk…my head fucking hurts…" Jack sighed, coming to yet again. "What the hell just happened…?"

"Well, hopefully you're not gonna get up and attack me again," a voice beside him said. He looked to his left, and then to his right. Sighing tiredly when he saw him, Jack said, "Well, fortunately for you, I feel drained right now, so I can't choke you to death."

Y'hudah shuddered, putting a hand around his neck. "Figures." Then he looked down at Jack. "Child…just…I didn't explain it to you clearly."

"Explain what?" Jack said, raising an eyebrow. "Oh, that thing I was going to say to you before the nurse sedated you," the thirty-nine year old clarified. "You scared your adopted mother and that friend of yours half to death, talking to thin air and all that."

"So…if they can't see you…and, you know, I'm you – at least, your reincarnation," the younger asked, "…then how can I see you separately from me?" "I'm part of your subconscious. If there's one thing I can't do right now, it's to communicate with someone other than you and God – except, I can only speak with Him indirectly."

"Well, why would He have sent you here? He could have just put you either in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven. Why put you back on Earth as me?" Jack asked. "Oh, Rabbi Yeshuah just told me to be born again, in order to get a Life Pass."

"A what?"

"A Life Pass. It is the ability to go to Heaven; or as Rabbi calls it," Y'hudah said, looking into the corner as if trying to remember something that he had forgotten, "the quality and quantity of trust you have in Him." Then he sighed. "Sounds familiar to what He had said Himself…somewhat."

"So…I don't have enough faith in Him?" Jack asked. Y'hudah shook his head. "It is I that has no faith in Him. You – you can give me a chance to trust Him again, to have a faith connection and send me to Heaven."

"But how am I going to do that?" Jack asked. Before Y'hudah could reply, there were footsteps coming close to where he was.

"I have to give you the answer later, child," Y'hudah said. Then he disappeared as Louise and Timothy walked up to Jack.

"Oh, dear, are you alright?" Louise asked. "You scared me. You were talking to nothing…" Jack nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine, Mom. I think I just kinda lost it that time." Timothy shook his head. "That's not cool, man. Everyone within 5 feet of the nurse's office could hear you screaming. What were you talking to?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't…remember…" he lied. Louise and Timothy looked at each other worriedly. Then Louise said, "You know, honey, if you're troubled, just let me know."

"Ok, Mom." Then Louise left while Timothy stayed behind. The latter came up to his friend and asked, "Hey, man, are you sure you're alright?" Jack nodded. "Yeah…I really think I'm losing it though." He lied again. However, it didn't fool Timothy.

"It was kinda weird to see you screaming at someone and pinning them to the wall – it was even weirder when he looked just like you, only older."

Jack coughed. "W-what?" he choked. "How-how did you know that?" Timothy smirked. "I have clairvoyance. I know what I see. You must have been talking to the person you were talking to me about yesterday."

"Oh." Jack said. Then he just sat in silence for a while.

* * *

Jack was able to go back home after some time, late at night. Louise had fussed about trying to escort him out of the school, but he thought that he could adequately do it on his own. Not even Timothy could stop him.

And so he went out into the darkness. Alone.

Wandering the streets alone at night reminded him of that dream that he had, when the city of Jerusalem was at night. He sighed. Why couldn't he remember any other dream as much as he could remember the ones that he had, where he had been in Jerusalem?

He sighed. Walking home from school at night was scary and dangerous. Especially if your house is farthest away from the school.

A cold night air brushed against him, messing his red hair up. "Damn," he said, trying to put it back in its original place, to no avail.

The wind came back, only this time it was colder. Jack shivered. There was something wrong about this wind…

"_Y'hudah Iscariot,"_ a dark voice called him.

"What—?" he called out.

For the third time that day, he was knocked unconscious.

* * *

**A/N: Dun-dun-dun!**

**And yeah, I'm pretty sure that clinics in schools don't really have sedatives. Forgive me if I'm wrong; just pretend that it's only in Jack's school.**

**Where will this story come to? Stay tuned!**

**(There. There's my hired narrator.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**(A/N: So…now it's coming down to the wire with this one!)**

**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own anything related to the Bible. Any resemblance to any places and persons, real or fictional, living or dead, is strictly coincidental.**

* * *

Jack woke up to the sound of crackling. Fire, maybe?

"Where am I this time?" he asked to no one in particular. All of a sudden, fire popped up from a spot right beside him. He ducked just in time.

"What the hell?"

Cackling resonated on the walls. Jack jumped, and then looked around for it. And looking around, he noticed that someone was lying down right behind him.

"Y'hudah!" Jack said, shaking his companion awake. "Y'hudah, we don't have time for this! Where are we?" The older one groaned, rubbed his eyes and looked around.

"No…" He said, sitting up, his eyes widening with fear.

"We're in Hell!"

"What?" Jack tried to stand up, but he couldn't. He looked down, and saw that he and Y'hudah were chained together. He grunted. "Oh, great. Stuck in Hell and I'm chained to the last person I'd want to be stuck with." Y'hudah scowled. "Oh, you don't say, runt."

"The name is Jack Matthew Korona."

"Whatever. Let's just find a way to get out of this place." Y'hudah said, getting up. But then all of a sudden, another burst of fire shot up behind them, and both were knocked to the ground.

Adversary Lucifer sneered. "Perhaps you'd think twice before standing in the center of Hell." Y'hudah looked up. His expression was of anger, but yet tears rolled down his face.

"SATAN!" He yelled. "Get us out of here!" His entire body was trembling.

Like that morning, when he hung himself.

"You think that I, Ruler of Hell, would let you out of my grasp so easily?" Lucifer laughed. "I don't think so!"

"The Betrayer is our property!" the demons seemed to cry out.

Jack shuddered. "_We're gonna be stuck here for life?"_

Only then did the devil notice Jack chained to Y'hudah. His malicious glare matched his sneer. "And what do we have here? A package deal?" Then he laughed. "Such a shame that your own reincarnation wasn't able to get you a so-called Life Pass!" The other demons in the center of Hell cackled as well. "He never was able to!" one of them ridiculed.

"SHUT UP!" Y'hudah said. "It was never his fault! It was mine! If you have someone to blame, blame me! I am responsible for this!" And, for once, Y'hudah Iscariot fell on his knees, and cried in agony and grief. "IT WAS ALL MY FAULT!" Jack only looked down at this man, this broken man who had released what had been a long two thousand years of anguish.

"Look at him, exposing his misery!"

"Let us give the pain he inflicted on his so-called teacher!"

Jack's chains were broken, and the mob was able to have their fun on his previous incarnation, who was still chained. Like some of the guards and the men at Yeshuah's trial before the High Priest did to the Messiah, so the demons did to His Betrayer. They mocked him and beat him, saying to him, "Remember that Yeshuah's death was your fault!"

But unlike Yeshuah, Y'hudah did not remain silent. He wept openly, lamenting for his sin.

Jack winced. It was hard to see someone being beaten like this.

Then a cold presence came behind him. He turned around to see that it was Lucifer. The Adversary put a hand on Jack's shoulder. "Aren't you going to join them, child?" he asked with the same tone that he used to trick Eve into taking the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge; it was as if trying to get Jack to beat Y'hudah and mock him for his crimes.

The redhead shook his head. "No. I won't do such a thing." Then, after removing Lucifer's hand from his shoulder, Jack moved through the violent crowd to shield Y'hudah from the demons.

"Leave him alone." Jack said, crossing his arms. Y'hudah cried even more and bowed his head. "I should have done that for Rabbi." The younger looked over at the thirty-nine year old.

"Y'hudah…"

* * *

_February 14, 2012. 7:00 PM._

"So, you say that you just found him on the street?" Louise asked to the policeman standing on her doorstep. The officer nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Korona. He was unconscious; knocked out cold by some unknown factor. Right now he is at the St. Archangel Raphael General Hospital."

She nodded. "Take me there, please," she said with a calm tone of voice, even though she was honestly concerned. The policeman nodded and seated her to the passenger seat. When the car began to move towards the hospital, she sighed.

"Oh, my son," she whispered. "I would give anything to see you awake and well." Her eyes were welling up with tears, but she held her head up and held them back, so as not to worry her son when she would confront him.

Such is the love of a mother, even for a child that was never her own.

She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and called the only other person that cared for her son like she did.

* * *

Inside the Kuroshe residence, the phone rang. It was as if to warn its owners of the news it was bringing.

Timothy's father, Elijah, looked up from his book. "Who do you think should get that?" His wife, Eunice, got up from her cooking and went to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Eunice? Yes, it's Louise Korona. I have something for your son; might you be able to bring the message to Timothy Luke when you're done?"

"But of course."

A few minutes later, the phone was put down. Eunice turned to her only son, who, like his father, was reading a book. "Timothy?"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"Louise just called. She said Jack's been hospitalized."

Timothy sat up in shock. "W-what?" he asked, his voice shaking. "That's what I just said, dear. Jack Matthew is in the hospital."

Timothy set the book down on the desk at once. Then he grabbed his bag and headed out of the door at once.

"Hold on!" Elijah yelled after his son. "Where do you think you're going!"

"A friend is in need," Timothy said in reply, "and I'm not gonna sit by and leave him alone!"

* * *

**A/N: Oh, my! What will become of Jack Matthew Korona now?**

**Review and tell me what you thought!**


	8. Chapter 8

**(A/N: Now…it all comes down to this…**

**Even in Hell…**

**Will Y'hudah Iscariot be able to forgive himself and gain a Life Pass?**

**Or will be stay in the pits of Hell forever?**

**Read if you are interested to see if you are prepared for the end!)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Bible. I've been telling you that for the last 7 chapters.**

**Oh, and I don't know if I own my hired narrator or not…It's actually just me typing.**

* * *

_February 14, 2012. 7: 19 PM._

"Korona-san!" Timothy yelled as he ran through the doors. Louise was sitting in a bench by herself, looking down at her feet, her hands in her lap. He went over to her and sat next to her.

"How is he?"

Louise looked at him. "I don't know. The doctors say he's comatose…I can't bear to see him." Timothy's brow furrowed, and then he asked, "May I see him for you?"

Louise nodded. "OK."

The fifteen-year old got up, and asked the person at the desk, "Um…in what room is Jack Matthew Korona staying?" The woman looked at the records, and then said, "Room 666." He winced at the number, and then nodded. "Arigato gozaimas."

"What?"

"It's Japanese for 'thank you'."

"Oh. Your welcome then." She did not smile, though.

Timothy walked down the hall to the room his best friend was staying (for I do not want to say that dreadful number again). His expression was falling with every step that he took; Jack Korona? Comatose? Not a chance, surely!...

He shook his head at that thought and looked at the room he was next to at that moment. Room 623. A few more doors to go.

* * *

"Y'hudah…"

The thirty-nine year old was still crying softly on the ground. The fire was slowly going down, though it was still burning steadily. Lucifer was watching the silent discourse. But the devil was not a being of patience. After a mere 30 seconds, the Adversary kicked the Betrayer off, Y'hudah falling on top of a spot where fire was bound to appear, like a geyser.

"You don't deserve to exist! You are the Traitor!"

Y'hudah's broken and battered body couldn't take it any longer. He tried to sit up, only to be blown back to the ground by a burst of fire under him. He was burnt and beat and bleeding. What a pitiful sight.

"I…" Y'hudah coughed. "…I'm sorry…I can't take…it back…"

"Don't talk like that!" Jack screamed at him. Y'hudah looked up at his reincarnation, obviously taken aback. "I know you're Judas Iscariot, and I know you're sorry, but it's time to move on! Yeshuah sure has! Why is it that you're always blaming yourself! Always…always…" Y'hudah looked down at the ground, unable to stand this child's blazing red eyes.

A child. A _child_. He had called him a child and yet Jack could bring him to be afraid.

Of…what?

* * *

"Father, this is not looking good," Yeshuah said, looking on from Heaven. "Do you think I should go and stop them?" He looked as if He was ready to do anything for His twelfth disciple.

"Yeshuah, wait right there," The Holy Spirit says to the Messiah. Yeshuah obediently removed His hand from the doorknob. "Your Father knows what is right and what is wrong. He knows that you should not intervene. It would only do worse things than what you intend and Y'hudah would still be running from Us."

"Your Uncle is right, Yeshuah." The Father's voice pierced through the entire mirror room, though He didn't materialize in front of His Son. "Let Y'hudah decide for himself whether or not he will choose us or himself."

Yeshuah nodded. He worriedly looked at the mirror in which the scene in Hell was unfolding. He sighed after sucking in a deep breath.

"Please…forgive yourself…my friend." Yeshuah pleaded under His breath, and then the image disappeared from the glass. He walked away.

* * *

Y'hudah stared at the ground for a long time.

He was not sure what to do next.

Death, mostly suicide, had been a welcome for him into Hell. And let me tell you, that was something he could not repeat – of course, he was dead! – nor did he ever want to do something as horrible as that again. Not again.

He wouldn't surrender to Lucifer. He couldn't face his head skyward without feeling any pain in his chest.

His fist clenched in the rocks.

"I've…always been blaming myself, you say…?" he finally manages to choke out. "Well that's true. For the past two thousand years it's been like that. Because Hell makes me feel nothing but pain."

He looked up. Jack was still looking down at him. He still remembered he was on the ground.

"_What is that to us?"_

The Pharisees' voices kept ringing in his head. He was in this position once…but that time, he was not looking up at Yeshuah, even though he knew his Teacher was looking at him.***** Yeshuah always had something to say, even if it wasn't always positive.

He was lying to himself. Living a thousand lies.

"_I have sinned, for I have betrayed innocent blood!"_

He looked up towards where the sky should have been, if they were on Earth and not in Hell. His cracked throat wanted to say a thousand words, but only a few rolled out of his mouth.

"Lord, forgive me."

The demons shuddered at the sound of the name of the Lord.

Y'hudah screamed.

"Lord, help me!"

The walls fell.

* * *

_8: 43 PM._

Timothy and Louise were sitting in the room, waiting for Jack to wake up – if he was really going to wake up. The former was twiddling his fingers anxiously, whereas the latter was trying her best not to cry. They feared the worst.

A thunder flash, the lights turned off and the worst happened.

All they heard was the slicing beep; all they saw was the straight line.

"No…" Louise trailed off. Timothy's mouth hung open, but he ran off to call a doctor, a nurse, _anyone_.

For Jack's heart stopped beating.

It stopped beating and all his mother could do was watch.

"JACK!"

* * *

**A/N: I'm pretty stressed while writing this; finishing the chapter was a blessing. Listening to music and writing are two of my favorite things, especially when done together.**

*** - And yet another reference to wickedmetalviking1990's chapter of "Joshua the King Of Heaven" where Judas returns the blood money to the priests. Man, I love that chapter. (Don't ask why.)**

**And yes, I know Yeshuah is not a type of person to walk away. Most of the time.**

**And I'd really like to have a picture for this fanfic.**

**Is Jack dead…?**


	9. Chapter 9

**(A/N: So...I didn't have time to update because of school. Live and learn. Heh.**

**Here it comes!)**

* * *

Louise was crying her heart out when Timothy and the doctors arrived.

"It's no use!" she screamed, holding her son's hand. "He's dead!" A nurse tried to move her away from Jack, but the poor woman wouldn't budge. Louise screamed. "DON'T TOUCH HIM!" The doctors only watch this scene, having witnessed deaths like this a couple of times.

But the cause of death was still uncertain!

"8: 50," the doctor nearest to her said, watching the clock. The nurse, having given up on trying to tear the mother away from her son, went over and unplugged the machine that was attached to Jack. Timothy wanted to cry as well at this point, but the tradition of men for years was to never cry. Or at least, never let anyone see you cry.

Except for Louise's sobs, the room was silent.

* * *

"Wake up."

Jack grunted.

"Come on, wake up, child."

Jack twitched a little, but didn't get up. He could've sworn he had heard that voice before…

"Jack. We're here."

Jack's eyes shot open. He blinked and refocused. He was on a train of some sort, most likely a kind of old-fashioned one, like when he was five and his adoptive mother had taken him to ride on a steam engine; not like those cheap amusement park replicas, the real deal, with real steam.

He sat up and yawned. Was he asleep…?

"Well, you've been knocked out for the fourth time on record today. If only those Guinness World Records you people keep talking about could nominate that." The redhead blinked and turned to his right. Y'hudah was sitting there, a smile on his face for once. He was dressed in all white.

"Where are we?" Jack asked.

Y'hudah looked around. "Welcome to the Soul Express." "No, I mean, _where_are we, like what stop are we?" "Oh, that's an easy one. Heaven."

Jack looked out his window. The light was the brightest of all, but not enough to blind you. Men and women dressed in white, like Y'hudah was, were walking towards their real Home. Y'hudah got off his seat and joined the others. Jack just watched out the window. The twelfth disciple was stopped by a Man, only for them to embrace each other.

"I knew you could make it, friend," Yeshuah said as he greeted His disciple. Y'hudah nodded, blinking back tears. "You mean I really did it?" he asked. "You're…really gonna let me through?" Yeshuah nodded. "I have more to tell you, but I can only tell you when I come back here. I have one more soul to send back home." Y'hudah nodded, and, after waving goodbye – to Yeshuah or to Jack? – he disappeared into the mass of people ready to come to the Father.

Yeshuah stared after them for a while, and then looked at Jack. They met each other's gaze, and like calling Y'hudah to follow Him, He beckoned the fifteen-year old to come with Him into the control room so that they could talk while getting there.

Jack had nothing to say. What do you say to the Son of God?

"Jack Matthew." Yeshuah addressed him. Jack looked at Him. "Y-Yes?" "So…you know about my friend Y'hudah, right?" Jack nodded. "He likes you a lot. He just doesn't show it." Yeshuah began. Jack was dumbstruck. "Really? He never calls me by my name!" "He called you by your name a few minutes ago."

The redhead abruptly stopped the conversation, feeling he had nothing to say to that remark.

"OK. So…now what?"

"I don't know. You tell me."

Jack crossed his arms. "Alright."

The train descended in silence until 10 minutes before they reached the level of Earth.

"Jack," Yeshuah asked, "are you alright?"

"Well, being knocked out four times on the same day – one time, by sedation – and finding out you're the reincarnation of Judas Iscariot sounds pretty swell," Jack said sarcastically. Yeshuah chuckled. "Yes, that can be pretty stressful. But I mean that emotionally. I know you're being bullied in school." "Yeah, I am," Jack said, looking down. "So? It's not the end of the world." Yeshuah chuckled again. "Of course. But my Father won't tell me when."

The train halted.

"Just remember this…" Yeshuah said as he and Jack stepped out of the train, towards a sole navy blue door.

"…that if you ever need Me…"

The door closed.

"…**I AM** here."

Darkness.

* * *

Timothy looked up from Louise and the doctors to sense a familiar presence. Apparently, none of them had felt it; it wasn't like they cared or not, though, not with the situation they were having.

He sadly smiled.

"Jesus."

Yeshuah nodded at this, still carrying Jack's sleeping soul in His arms.

"Shh…" He said. "Your friend is sleeping."

"Where is Judas?"

"He is with my Father."

"Oh. That's expected and unexpected at the same time."*****

"It seems so," Yeshuah said, crouching down to the level of Louise. She was still crying. Yeshuah, even though He could not be seen, kissed her head and said, "There's no need to cry anymore…" It was as if she could hear Him, though indirectly, and her hysterical weeping was reduced to soft tears and sniffles.

With Louise calmed, Yeshuah walked over to Jack's body and laid the boy's soul on top of the body. Like they do in so many cartoons, the soul floated gently back into the body. Having finished this task, the Lord laid His hands over Jack and said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!"

Timothy waited without saying a word. Patience was needed for this.

And patience always paid off, for signs of life began to reappear. His heart was beating. He was breathing, his chest moving normally up and down. His hands began to clench and unclench. His eyes opened as all who watched were astounded.

Jack looked around, yawning and rubbing his eyes, like a child waking up on a bright morning. He saw about three doctors and a nurse, his best friend since kindergarten, and his mother. He smiled. "Hello."

At this everyone began to smile and clap. Timothy cried this time, but wiped his tears away before anyone else could see them. Louise was crying as well, but this time she ran over and embraced Jack.

* * *

_February 19, 2012; Sunday._

"So, Jack, are you really sure you want to go to church?"

"Yeah, Mom."

"But didn't you say you had homework to do?"

Jack slapped his forehead. "I can do that later, Mom."******

Louise rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right."

"No, seriously, Mom."

Louise giggled. They stopped walking as soon as the door of the church was in sight. "So, here we are, dear." Jack smiled. "Yeah."

He stepped forward.

* * *

**A/N: *kicks back* Yes! It's finally done! Well, what did you expect me to do in the epilogue? Give Jack a girlfriend? Stop his classmates from bullying him? Hell if I did! That's up to your imaginations.**

**For those who are wondering, no, Y'hudah and Jack aren't completely separate from each other. They can still communicate in a way that cannot be completely understood. (I just wrote that up now, and honestly, I don't know how they'll communicate as well.) ._. Well, like I said, up to the reader's imagination.**

**And…I'm pretty sure I took the last hospital scene off Luke 7: 11-16. Yes folks, it sure seems to resemble the part where Jesus raises the widow's son in Nain. I even took lines from that part: one from Manga Messiah and the other from the New International Version.**

*** - Expected and unexpected at the same time? Just like the winner of American Idol, as well as the winner of the fight of Pacquiao VS. Bradley. (lol, the so-called winner has the same first name as my OC.)**

**** - Like Jack, I procrastinate. Look it up if you don't know. =P**

**Thank you all for reading; especially my faithful reviewer, Heart of the Wind 007, who has never been afraid to ask multiple questions about this fanfiction, even though I have not been able to answer them all directly. I thank you greatly. (Oh, and I love your stories. Update more on your High School Sweet Hearts.) And also thank you, wickedmetalviking1990 (though you never reviewed) for teaching me the importance of the "I AM".**

**I'm coming back for "The Way I Loved You"!**

**But that's all for this fanfiction!**

**But any reviews, suggestions for another story? Gladly. (Unless it's offensive…or I don't like it…)**

**Tell me what you think!**


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